Mena House Hotel Giza, Egypt review

Mena House Hotel (formerly Oberoi Mena House Hotel) was originally built as a royal lodge for one of the Ottoman Khedives in the 1800’s. Since then, it has been frequented by other royals, heads of State and celebrities such as Winston Churchill, Prince Albert of Wales, Richard Nixon and *cue fangirl moment* Frank Sinatra . Seeped with a rich royal history and over a century later, the hotel still carries with it the opulence and luxury that it was originally built for.

The interiors are decorated with dramatic carved antiques, and other ornate pieces laden with wooden and gold accents throughout the property. You can choose to stay in the original palace where there’s an exclusive number of rooms and suites available, or the garden rooms which were added as an extension after the property was transformed into a hotel. Although the latter is a more affordable option (which we stayed in), the rooms are still quite luxurious with some featuring prime views over the Pyramids, or a view of the beautiful manicured gardens surrounding the property. The hotel does in some places need a bit of a revamp – tv’s were still CRT and some of the fittings were aged – however it does not distract from the uniqueness and history of the hotel (besides you probably won’t be watching television much when you’re right next to an Ancient Wonder!)

There’s a myriad of culinary choices available within the grounds so you wont need to leave the comfort of the hotel (aka being lazy like us!). For dinner we tried the popular street food koshary and stuffed pigeon accompanied with complimentary pita bread at Khan El Khalii, a restaurant serving classic Egyptian and Arabic dishes. Service was excellent as there were hardly any other guests so our waiters were very attentive. Try to get a table by the window overlooking the pyramids – we were treated to a view of the light show on the pyramids at night.

For breakfast, 139 Terrace serves a variety of continental and local options in the form of a buffet (try the dahl it was delicious). For those with children or a sweet tooth, they also had a pancake station in the mix.

After exploring the pyramids, end your day by can admiring the only remaining Ancient Wonder of the world with a beer or cocktail in your hand (the hotel isn’t dry) in the plush Sultan Lounge.

We couldn’t fault anything about the hotel and highly recommend a stay at the unique Mena House Hotel if you ever visit Giza.

We liked:

Complimentary welcome fruit platter and chocolates
Complimentary shoe shine for the gents
Free breakfast
Free wifi
The view of the pyramids
The amazing history behind the hotel